Wednesday, July 18, 2018

This past weekend I traveled from Lima to the city of Ayacucho (aka Huamanga), where my family is originally from, on my dad's side. There, I had a great time meeting Richy Ledesma, a craft brewer whom I'd been in contact with on FaceBook and who is also friends with a couple of my cousins.

Richy received me at his place, Cervecería Artesanal El Oráculo, and plied me with beers as we spent the evening talking about craft beer and other subjects.

Entirely self-taught, Richy is one of only two craft brewers in Ayacucho, a city 363 road miles from Lima and 9,000 feet up in the Andes. He produces four or five batches a week on a 100-liter system, which he mainly distributes in bottles, which he fills by hand and carbonates with priming sugar.

In the evenings he opens his little taproom, which is located in a fourth floor walk-up space in downtown, and dispenses beer from his two-tap draft system.

The relative isolation means that everything that goes into a beer but the water, has to be imported. Once to Peru, and thence from Lima to Huamanga. It also means that Richy is fighting against a lack of popular knowledge about beer styles and about hand-crafted beer.

Further, it also means that Richy does not have easy access to examples of the styles he wishes to brew nor to a support community of fellow brewers. One result of that is that some of El Oráculo's beers are not quite consistent with what we, in the US, would consider the standard for those beers --for example, Punana Porter falls a bit shy when it comes to body and mouthfeel.

Richy, however, is undaunted and by dint of hard work in what is essentially a one-man operation, he is opening doors for his brews in town and elsewhere. His beers are even poured at events and festivals as far away as Lima.

El Oráculo's tastiest beers are, by far, Judas and La Vidente.

Judas is a 7.5% abv, 30 IBU, 13 SRM, smooth pale ale with a lovely white head. I didn't take any notes, so I'm going from memory here, but I believe Richy said that he used Columbus and Kent Goldings hops in this one.

La Vidente is El Oráculo's biggest beer, coming in at 13% abv. One wouldn't know it, though, when drinking it. It has a bit of warmth, but is not "hot" with alcohol. Rather, tropical fruit notes predominate in the mouth and nose.

If you like craft beer and supporting small independent enterprises, El Oráculo is well worth checking out should you find yourself in Ayacucho.

The week following my arrival in Peru I journeyed to Ayacucho in order to spend a few days back in my beloved Huamanga.

Huamanga's main plaza

It has been four years since I had been there last, and I was indeed missing it. Unlike other trips there in past years, I was on my own and with no agenda other than to just hang out and be there.

Hostal Via Via Plaza

Also, unlike most other years, I did not stay in the old family house, but instead opted for the Hostal Via Via, on the plaza. The Via Via is located in a converted Spanish-era mansion, that had also previously been the Hotel Sucre, overlooking the main plaza.

So, I just hung out, wandered around a bit downtown, and took in the sights and sounds.

Monument to Gen. Jose de Sucre, victor in the Battle of Ayacucho

28 de Julio Street, looking from the plaza toward the Independence Arch, and the central market.

One food that people just can't seem to grasp when it is described to them is the granadilla. Telling them that it is a cousin of the passion fruit just doesn't quite do it. Describing it is even worse.

It looks like an orange maraca or baby rattle. The inside is filled with gray seeds covered in gray gel, and it kind of looks like snot. You don't chew or spit out the seeds, but just slurp it all down.

In fact, however, granadillas are awesome. They have a mild, sweet flavour and a light aroma of ... granadilla. The pulp goes down really easily and babies love it. They are fun and easy to eat --not messy at all-- and refreshing.

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Well, tickets are bought for our next trip, which is coming up quite soon, and this time Liz will be able to join me in Lima.

That, of course, brings up the matter of traveling and dining gluten-free in Lima, and in Peru generally.

There are, of course, hundreds of dishes and thousands of foods that are naturally gluten-free in Peru. Everthing from amazing fruits and vegetables, to meats, seafood, and dairy. Same as everywhere else, but with the bonus that, as a traveler, one gets to enjoy things that one usually does not get to try. Prepared foods, however, are a whole different matter.

In terms of gluten awareness, Lima is about where the US was, maybe, fifteen years go. The rest of the country, further back. And, like in the US, it is often seen as an affectation by the middle class, in imitation of foreign food fads (which is not to say that that appreciation doesn't have a kernel of thruth to it).

Through the work of groups such as the Asociacion de Celiacos del Peru there is increasing awareness celiac disease in Peru, at least at the level of producers and retailers, such that most major supermarkets now have a small section dedicated to certified gluten-free products --mostly cookies, biscuits, and crackers of various sorts. Their website, celiacosperu.org, says it lists certified foodstuffs but the links do not work at this time (it does, however, offer a list of certified gluten-free medications available in Peru). Further, and more current, information about foods and restaurants can be found at their Face Book page.

Prepared Foods

The
larger food companies, that are subsidiaries of multinational
corporations, follow the EU protocols for food labeling, including
listing of allergens in the ingredients. (I have not seen any mention
of shared facility or shared equipment on labels.) Smaller, local
producers, are usually less strict.

Specifically, I have been told by the Braedt
company that all their products --sausages, chorizo, and so on-- are
gluten-free. Sometimes, retailers will buy large packs and split them up
into smaller packages for sale. If you are concerned by this, then
make sure to buy Braedt products in their original packaging, or at the
Braedthaus stores.

Likewise, the company that makes the popular Tarí hot sauce and the Alacena line of sauces and condiments has indicated that all their products in that line are gluten-free

Dishes to avoid

Ají: Not the hot peppers, but the sauce that is made from them and is found at almost every table. If you don't know how it was made, skip it, as a lot of recipes -specially for the creamy ones- contain crackers. As noted earlier, packaged ají or rocoto pepper sauces from the Alacena or Tarí brands are ok.

Crema de rocoto: Same as above

Papa rellena: The potato balls are rolled in flour before frying.

Chicha de jora: Andean corn beer, but oftentimes includes a
measure of barley. Producers usually don't list ingredients, so best to
avoid it.

Emoliente: A steaming hot herbal drink, which is great for the winter cold, but contains barley.

Ocopa: The sauce contains crackers.

Papa a la huancaína: Traditionally it is made from cheese, aji, salt, and a little oil, but these days chefs are likely to put in ground crackers for consistency and flavor. Ask before ordering.

Ají de gallina: Contains bread crumb as a thickener.

Lomo saltado: Contains soy sauce and possibly oyster sauce. However, you could ask them to make it without the sauces in a clean pan.

Pollo a la brasa: The ubiquitous rotisserie chicken. In most places it is marinated in a mixture that contains soy sauce and/or beer. For the original (and gluten-free) version made only with salt and fire, you must head out of town a bit to the Granja Azul.

Arroz con pollo or Arroz con pato: They are made with beer.

Seco de cabrito, Seco de carne, Seco a la norteña: Green-colored stew with a cilantro gravy. May be made with beer or chicha de jora.

Sudado: A steamed fish or seafood stew. Likely to be made with chicha. Ask before ordering.

Sopa patasca or patache: A soup from the Andes. Contains wheat kernels.

Jalea: The seafood is breaded or floured, and fried.

Bear in mind that, particularly outside of Lima, trigo (wheat) or cebada (barley) may have different names depending on the form they take. Some examples:

Pusra: coarse-ground barley.

Morón: coarse-ground toasted barley or wheat.

Salvado: bran.

Eating Out

As
Peru experiences its culinary boom and more and more cooks come out of
culinary schools rather than just home kitchens, it is easier to find
restaurants that can and are willing to accommodate requests for
gluten-free preparations. This is specially the case the higher one goes
up on the price scale.

Here are some tips to make your ordering experience easier:

- Avoid the lunch rush. You'll get better service, a more attentive
hearing from your server, and more care from your cooks, if they are not
rushed or stressed. Particularly important if you are working across a language barrier.

-
Don't go cheap. Peru is a place with seemingly an eatery on every
block. Most of those offer an inexpensive prix-fixe lunch, called the menu (if you want to read the menu, ask for the carta).
The nature of these places is that they are meant to get workers on
their lunch break in, fed, and out, quickly. The food is already fixed
and they have neither the time nor the ability to handle special
requests. Better to go to a restaurant where the ordering is a la
carte.

-
Don't count on either your server nor the cooks knowing what the heck
you are talking about. Most will never have heard of celiac disease (celiaquia),
and as for gluten, the thinking is likely to be "I don't know what that
is, but know I didn't put any of that in there." It is better to be as
specific as you can as to what foods you need to avoid and which you
can eat.

- Give your server and cook something to help them remember what you need. Liz and I came up with this card a few years ago to present to
waiters,

It says,

I have a disease called celiac disease and I must follow a rigorous gluten-free diet.I
could get very ill should I ingest foods that contain grains or flour
from wheat, barley, rye, or oats, or that contain ingredients made with
wheat, barley, rye or oats (for example: soy sauce, beer, bread, cookie,
various sauces).I can eat rice, yuca,
potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, meats, eggs, fish and shellfish, fruits,
vegetables of all kinds, as long as they are not prepared with
ingredients that contain gluten or are prepared on the same surface or
with utensils shared with foods with gluten. If in doubts, please use
freshly-washed utensils.Thank you for your help.More information about celiac disease at http://celiacosperu.org

The
card has helped a lot, and staff have always been appreciative. In some
instances waiters or the kitchen staff asked to hold on to it for
reference. Feel free to copy it.

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About Me

Hello! I started this blog to stay connected and share details of our trips to Peru with our friends and family here in the United States and elsewhere. That is still its primary purpose, albeit one that has been increasingly taken over by the immediacy of FaceBook and WhatsApp.

Indeed, over time this blog's audience has widened somewhat as it is also sometimes consulted and used as a resource by prospective travelers and others interested in Peru, and I find myself more and more writing with that audience somewhat in mind.

The name of the blog, "Camina el autor", refers to a page in Nueva Coronica i buen gobierno, a remarkable book written in 1615 by a descendant of the Incas from Ayacucho, Felipe Waman Puma, after traveling throughout Peru for 20 years.

As any modern traveler will discover, Peru is a wonderful, colorful, fascinating place with a long history, great food, and awesome people. Below, I have links to items that I think help build an appreciation for Peru and its charms.

Enjoy!

Please note that images and video of friends and family appearing here are intended for viewing on this web site only and are not to be reproduced or used elsewhere without permission.
The remaining material is covered by a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial - Share Alike License, provided a link back to this site is included.